


Observation, Love & Seven Sins

by firexpunch



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Everyone Is Gay, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-02 05:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10210691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firexpunch/pseuds/firexpunch
Summary: When Rin Hoshizora is asked to come with Eli Ayase to observe Seven girls, she had no idea of what could happen. Seven different Sins, Seven different girls and a lot of things to learn about.





	1. Come and learn, young one

. . .

‘Surely everyone knows about the Seven Sins. There have been plenty of theories and stories including them. But no one really understands what created the Sins, was it humanity? Giving every single sin so much fuel it appeared for real? We can’t say it for sure. In an eastern country the Seven Sins appeared in a so called ‘spirit-form’. They possess girls and will sometimes take complete control over them. Not everything is discovered about the Sin-Spirits yet. What is known that I, Rin, will start working today with the wonderful Eli Ayase to observe the seven girls who are possessed by the Spirits this generation. I’m very excited.’

Rin Hoshizora closed her notebook with a satisfied sigh. 

Around her the landscapes had changed from trees and swamps to mountains. Her ears hurt slightly because of the pressure changes. Next to her sat Eli Ayase. Rin still couldn’t believe she was given this chance, working with Eli was such a honour. The girl was only two years older but had such a mature aura.  
Heck, Rin could even sense her aura. Maybe that was why Rin was asked to accompany Eli to the Seven-mountain castle. From a very young age Rin had showed that she had spiritual powers, helping her talk to spirits and sensing aura’s. 

The first time Rin noticed her powers was when she was four. Her parents said she had been talking to someone they couldn’t see for a while now. Rin claimed that it was Lee, a five year old who got killed two centuries ago in this room. Lee was very kind to Rin though, they had been very sad when Rin told them she would leave. Lee had also been happy and had given her some stuff that could help her. Even though the spirit’s body was that of a five year old, their soul was very wise.

Through the years Rin’s aura had started to attract more spiritual beings. Not only was she known by the creatures but by the people surrounding her and the village as well. Often enough someone brought in a loved one who was attacked by the beings or even possessed. Rin could help most of the times by talking to the spirit.   
And then all of the sudden, a month ago the Ayase family had turned up by her house. Rin had only heard few things over the family. She didn’t even recognize Eli at first. She had just asked them if they needed help with a spirit, before waving at a spirit who had accompanied them without being noticed.

Eli had explained she had been searching for a person to go on a mission with for almost a year. Rin was surprised to hear that Eli knew a lot about her and had decided she wanted Rin to help her. Rin felt flattered of course but she also just couldn’t leave. In exchange Eli’s younger sister Arisa would stay at the village. Rin agreed and a week later they started their journey.

Rin had made a lot of notes in her notebook. Eli had tons of books she could borrow. They were so much better than the three books she had about spiritual beings at home. She already knew a lot about them through talking with the spirits but this was a whole new world.   
“Are you doing okay?” Eli’s voice startled Rin. Her head jerked up. “A-ah, yes, thanks for asking,” she stuttered. “My ears hurt slightly at first but now they are okay. I have to get used to this pressure anyway.” Eli nodded thoughtfully. “I noticed the change in pressure as well.” Eli took a sip from her tea before continuing to gaze outside. “It looks so peaceful up here.” 

It was peaceful indeed. You almost couldn’t imagine a huge castle popping op out of nowhere. But there it suddenly was, behind a cloud appeared the castle. Rin’s jaw dropped. She turned around to search for Eli. Eli had seen it as well. “ There it is, the legendary Seven-Mountain Castle.” Eli’s comment wasn’t really necessary.   
The castle got its name from the Seven mountains around it. Rin could feel her senses tingling, begging her to look beneath her. So she did. Hundreds- no thousands of spiritual beings twirled through each other. This place was perfect for her. She shook her head quickly. She was here to help Eli with observing the Seven girls. 

She didn’t know a lot about the Seven girls, only that they were all around the same age as her and all had their own ‘Sin’ inside of them that came out sometimes.   
Eli had crept up to her without being noticed. “ I can’t see them clearly but there’s a lot of them down there, isn’t there?” Eli’s calm voice had a slight tone of excitement in it now. Rin nodded as she faced Eli. “ I’m not even sure how many myself, their thoughts and voices are like a river.”   
The ship had gotten closer to the castle and a harbour showed up around the corner of the castle. Rin thought she could see seven figures for a moment, standing on a wall. When she blinked again they were gone. Rin shrugged it off and noticed how late it already was. 

“I heard every Sin-Spirit has their own time and schedule to come out,” Eli suddenly commented. Rin looked up at her with a questioning expression. “I’m not sure what the schedule is but I’m pretty sure we’ll meet a Sin soon.” Eli’s explanation intrigued Rin. “So the Sin’s don’t randomly possess people as in the old stories?”  
Eli shook her head. “No, the older Sin’s did that but these are modern Sin’s, I guess. They have a time they prefer to come out,” Eli then started. She had taken out an old looking paper. Seven creatures were drawn on them with their names beneath them. “My old teacher also told me once that there is a way the girl and the Sin can work together, although that is probably not true.” 

Rin needed a moment to take it all in. “So what you’re saying is that they all have their time to come out?” Eli nodded. “Then why are we here to observe them if so much information is gathered already?” Eli’s face took a dark turn. “Lately the Sins have been corrupted,” Rin wanted to ask another question but Eli stopped her. “The last observer was killed by one of the Sins.” 

The ship entered the harbour. A lonely figure was standing at the path leading away from it. Rin tried to get a better look by squinting her eyes but it was no use. Eli was also confused. “They are supposed to wait inside.” She only muttered. Voices of the sailors echoed high above them as they were pulling the ship against the harbour’s walls.   
The captain knocked on the room’s door. “We have arrived Miss Ayase and Hoshizora.” he politely said. Eli walked away from the window and took only a bag with her. She opened the door. The man was still waiting outside. “Thank you for bringing us here, Yeung. Could you make sure all the books in this room are secured in boxes and brought inside the castle?” 

Yeung bowed. “Of course. Please stay safe Miss.” Eli smiled at the old man. “I will, stay safe as well.” Rin felt kind of awkward and shifted her feet. Eli turned around for a moment. “Ready to go, Rin?” Rin quickly followed Eli. “I’m as ready as I can be!”

. . .

‘No one knows who build the Seven-Mountain Castle. It has been on top of the mountain for as long as humanity has lived in this area. Books say when the first people started their villages it was already there, looking like it was thousands of years old. Due to the high spiritual rate, it is very fitted for the possessed girls to ‘live’. Every week a ship comes by to bring in new food and other gifts, to keep mostly the Sin’s happy. I guess Eli and I are going out for food after our arrival. Eli told me on our way to the castle- the figure had disappeared by the way- that the former observer also used to bring them their food and gifts. That’ll conclude my notes for now.’

The girls where nowhere to be found. All the baggage was brought inside the castle. Eli read her instructions and soon enough they found the wing of the building they would start calling their home. It was not certain how long they would stay so Eli had just taken all of her stuff with her, including all of her furniture. Rin felt sorry for the sailors who had to bring the stuff in. 

Rin had only brought her notebook, clothes and weights with her. She had lifted the weights herself. She liked to be fit. She ran a hand through her short orange-like hair and nodded to herself, satisfied with how her room looked. She then exited her room, starting to look around for the girls. She had no idea where Eli was, probably telling the sailors where to put what.   
Rin entered a spacious place. And then Rin noticed her. 

The girl was sitting in something that looked like a throne. Old bricks that had probably belonged to it were gathered around. The girl didn’t say anything, just watched her with those piercing purple eyes. She lazily played with a strand of her red hair, wrapping it around and off her forefinger. Rin gulped. She moved to the left and so did the eyes.   
The thing that Rin could see from where she was standing was that the girl had no pupil. Her iris was only there. Rin just guessed she was possessed by her Sin right now. So Rin decided to ‘meet’ the girl. She walked closer to her, hands buried in her pockets. There were stickers inside her pockets she could use to slow the Sin down if she needed to. 

“Hi.” Rin casually greeted. The girl finally moved. She crossed her right leg over the left. “So you’re the other watchdog?” Her voice was cold. “I would prefer the term ‘watchcat’ since I like cats more but yes, I’m here to observe you and the six others.” A laugh rumbled through the room. It startled Rin. The girl leaned over to her. “Have fun with that, the last one was devoured by Gluttony.”   
A shiver ran down Rin’s spine. “I heard of that,” she then squeezed out. “If I’m getting eaten through my observation, fine. But I at least learnt about the Sins.” Her answer clearly surprised the Sin. Then a terrifying grin made its way onto the girl’s face. “Be careful around Gluttony then, they’re always hungry, if there isn’t food around any longer-“ The girl made a bite motion. “-then it’s game over.”

All of the sudden the girl got up and stretched. “Guess I’ll go now, that irritating snob Wrath is coming, I can feel him.” Rin was confused. “Him?” she asked. The girl stopped her movements. She looked down at Rin as if she was some stupid dull creature. “Yeah, him. Wrath.” Rin bit the inside of her cheek. “I thought all spirits were non-binary.” Another laugh rumbled through the room, startling Rin again. “Those are the stupid ones, we, the Sins are way more powerful than them. So we can have genders.”   
The girl stretched her neck. “Bye then.” With those words the girl dropped to the ground and Rin managed to catch her just in time. The girl blinked a few times. Her pupils were back so Rin guesses the possession was over. “Hey there, can you stand?” The redhead looked extremely confused for a second but then rolled her eyes. “That irritating asshole just couldn’t let me go normally.” 

The answer made Rin frown. “That asshole?” The girl nodded. “Yeah, Greed,” she said with a sigh as she sat down at the foot of the throne. “He really has a god-complex. He just loves to sit here and act like he owns the place.” Rin frowned again. “So that was Greed?” she asked, more to herself than the girl. The girl nodded.   
Rin then jumped up. “Right! I’m Rin, Rin Hoshizora, I’m here to observe you and the others.” She explained. The girl ran her hand through her hair. “I’m Maki.” She simply stated. Then she got up and walked away. “Wrath is coming soon,” she then yelled. “If I were you I’d hide!”

With that Maki had disappeared. Rin was confused. She sat down on the throne and pulled out her notes, scribbling the new things she had just learned down. She was so caught up in her writing that she didn’t notice footsteps coming closer. And also she didn’t notice that they were rushed.  
When a blue-haired girl burst through the door it was already too late. Rin felt frozen in her place. The girl or more, the Sin glared at her. “How dare you sit on my throne,” a heavy voice roared through the room. It was even less pleasant than Greed’s laughter. “It’s worse enough that Greed sits on it, I’ll cut him up one day for that-“ Rin noticed the sword that rested in a holder on the girl’s hip. 

The girl had gotten closer to her. Rin noticed that the amber coloured eyes had no pupil, just like Maki hadn’t before. Rin then got up and swallowed. “I’m truly sorry, I didn’t know this was yours.” The girl huffed as she swiped some strands of hair over her shoulder. “That’s exactly what the one before you said, ‘I’m sorry,’” The girl did an impression of a high voice. It sounded weird since the girl’s voice sounded heavy. “Serves her right Gluttony ate her.”  
Rin had stepped away from the throne and had put her notebook in a back pocket. “I mean it, like you kind of noticed, I’m new, don’t know the rules, schedules, that sort of stuff.” Rin rambled. The girl rolled her eyes. “Whatever, next time I’ll cut off your hand or something.” Rin almost let out a relieved sigh but decided that it was better not to do. “Thank you,” she said with a bow. The girl looked amused. “May I ask your name?” 

The blue-haired sat down on the throne, sword now resting on her lap, still in its holder. “My name is Wrath, holder of the Grudges.” Its heavy voice sounded proud. Rin had a hard time trying to imagine what the host would sound like. “I see, I’m sorry Wrath. I’ll take my leave now.” Rin said as she turned around to walk away, trying not to break out in a sprint. 

. . .

‘For so far I’ve met two Sins. Wrath and Greed. I’ve only been here for a few hours now but already learnt a lot about the Sins. Everyone has their own schedule to possess their host, just like Eli said. I’ve not figured out the other five Sins schedules yet, I hope to discover it soon. It turns out that the Sins are very powerful and through that, have decided their gender. This is entirely new for me and I’m not sure what their gender could have to do with them. For Wrath, I think his gender defines his voice. Greed was much more gentle, maybe a bit too gentle. I also discovered that Greed and Wrath don’t enjoy each other’s company. That’ll be my notes for now, I’m starving for some Ramen.’

Rin made her way to the kitchen, or what she thought would be the kitchen. She was surprised to see two people inside the room. Just when she wanted to turn around a purple-haired girl turned around, smiling politely at her. Her eyes, one was green while the other seemed more turquoise. Rin couldn’t help but stare. She tried to snap herself out of it. The laugh the girl created was wonderful. “I see my Sin’s spells work on you even though she isn’t out,” Rin snapped out of her trance now. “Would you like to eat something?”

The girl’s offer pulled rumbling out of her stomach. Rin turned red and scratched the back of her head, a nervous habit of her. “Yes please.” She stammered. The girl chuckled now and turned around to cook again. Rin noticed that the girl was only wearing an apron over her torso and a playfully short skirt. She didn’t have a lot of trouble doing a guess about the girl’s Sin. She took out her notebook again.

‘I think I’ve just encountered Lust. I shouldn’t make my judgement through her behaviour and appearance, Lust is just combined with sex and appearance a lot. Her eyes are two different colours, I haven’t determined yet if she shares her consciousness with Lust right now or if it’s natural. There is also another girl in this room but she appears to be sleeping.’

Rin closed her notebook and glanced over at the sleeping girl. She almost let out a yelp when the purple-haired leaned over her shoulder, pressing her breast against her back. She placed a bowl filled with good-looking food in front of Rin. “I hope you’ll enjoy your food,” the girl whispered in her ear. Rin gulped. “That sleeping one over there is Honoka by the way. And I’m Nozomi.” Nozomi explained.

It was then that Eli entered the room. “Rin, I just encountered-“ Eli stopped talking when her eyes landed on Nozomi. You could see her swallow. Nozomi smiled at her. “There is our other hero.” The way she talked flirtingly, Rin thought Nozomi was probably used to talking this way. Eli was bright red now. “Y-yeah, I’m your hero.” Nozomi playfully stuck out her tongue and winked before turning around to continue her cooking. 

Eli took place next to Rin, still staring at Nozomi. Rin munched on her food. “That’s Nozomi,” she pointed at Nozomi. “And that’s Honoka, haven’t spoken to her yet.” Rin pointed at Honoka, who was still asleep. She looked up when Nozomi chuckled. “My guess it that she isn’t Honoka right now.”  
Both Rin and Eli frowned. Nozomi turned around to set another bowl in front of Eli, making sure to lean far enough for Eli to have a good view at her cleavage. “Honoka shares her body with Sloth you see, Sloth loves to sleep. Honoka would never skip dinner so that’s where my guess comes from,” Nozomi said, sitting down in front of them. “Since her eyes are closed, we can’t check it but I’m pretty sure Sloth’s on now.”

Rin grabbed her notebook again. Writing as she was still eating.

‘The sleeping girl turns out to be a girl called ‘Honoka’. She shares her body with Sloth. I guess it was stupid of me, not knowing it was Sloth. I’ve met four Sins so far, two for sure, one in guess and the other is still sound asleep. With sound I mean they’ve started snoring. Eli seems extremely interested in the girl that probably hosts Lust. That’ll be everything for today.’


	2. Everything will change from now on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin finds out more about the Sins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone who has been leaving comments and kuddo's so far, thanks! Also, I'll try to upload a new chapter every week, please bare with me!

. . .

‘The food was delicious. Nozomi is a very talented cook. Attractive as well, she surely has caught Eli’s eye. I’ll observe those two as well, for as far I know a spirit and a human have never been in contact that way. But still, if it’s Nozomi I guess there wouldn’t be any problems. Honoka was still sleeping when I took my leave, when I passed the throne-room Wrath glared at me. I heard piano somewhere in the building and singing as well. I don’t think Maki was the one who sang. I’ll find it out soon enough. I haven’t met Pride, Envy and Gluttony yet. I’m actually nervous for Gluttony, the stories about them make it worse. But still, I didn’t sense any corrupted spirits when I spoke to the Sins. I’ll try to figure that out later. Maybe a talk with Gluttony could actually help me.’

Rin had slept very good that night. When she had washed her face, brushed her hair and put on her clothes she had searched for the kitchen. Eli wasn’t in her room when Rin glanced inside. She had wanted to invite the girl for breakfast. Of course Eli was already there, talking to Nozomi.  
“Good morning.” Rin greeted as she sat down. Honoka had disappeared from the couch. Nozomi looked up. Her eyes hadn’t changed their different colours. “Hello there, would you like some cereal or pancakes?” Nozomi kindly offered as she smiled. Rin tried to ignore the fact that the girl was again, not wearing a shirt and only an apron –she also tried to ignore the fact that this was another apron with ‘kiss the cook on it’- and smile back at Nozomi. “Just cereal please, I was planning on going on a run after breakfast.”

Nozomi nodded. “Cereal it is!” she then cheerfully said as she spun around to start preparing Rin’s food. Eli had been eating some pancakes. “Nozomi explained me her guess of the schedules from some Sins-“ Eli swallowed some pancake. “- Greed and Wrath mostly come out at the evenings, Sloth prefers night.”  
Rin smiled thankfully at Nozomi as she put down the bowl with cereal. Nozomi replied with a wink. Rin munched on the cereal. “And what about Lust and the others?” Nozomi turned around again, drying her hands with a towel. “Envy likes middays, Pride could be coming every moment now and Gluttony-“ Nozomi bit her lip as she avoided the eyes of the two girls. “Gluttony isn’t that simple.”

Eli glanced at Rin for a moment. “What do you mean with that?” Nozomi sighed as she sat down at a chair. “You probably heard that the Sins are corrupted,” she then started. “That is partly a lie, not everyone’s Sin is corrupted. Gluttony is the first one so far.” Nozomi looked sad now. Eli frowned. She was thinking deeply. “So Gluttony, who is corrupted killed the former observer?”

Nozomi flinched at the comment. She looked up with tears in her eyes. “They didn’t just kill her, they ate her!” Rin almost choked on her cereal. “That poor, sweet girl,” Nozomi muttered. A tear ran down her cheek but she didn’t stop it. “You could see that they didn’t want to do it, they couldn’t stop it!” Eli had gotten up and tried to comfort Nozomi. “Hanayo, the girl who is the host, we had to tell her why she was covered in blood, why Tsubasa was no longer there!”  
Rin felt frozen, just like yesterday with Wrath. Nozomi wasn’t done yet. “And that poor Honoka, my guess is that Sloth is becoming corrupted as well. Ever since Tsubasa died, Honoka has been Sloth much more usual than normal.” Rin had laid her spoon down. “Do you have any idea what caused Gluttony’s corruption?”

The purple-haired looked over at her. “No, I’m not sure,” she whispered. “But the spirits who guard the castle are becoming corrupted as well. Something is corrupting this place, and it’s making all of us sick, not just the Sins.” Rin and Eli felt shock after hearing the new information. Rin silently stood up.  
She exchanged her clothes for her running clothes. She also took her notebook with her, she just needed a quiet place to write her thoughts on this.  
The sight of a blue-haired girl startled Rin. It was the girl who had been Wrath before. But now she was standing here, eyes looking at something Rin couldn’t see in the distance.

Her pupils were there so Rin thought she wasn’t Wrath right now. The girl looked startled to see her, to say it lightly. She almost fell down when she noticed Rin watching her.  
“W-who are you?” the girl yelled at her as she did a few steps back. Right, most of the times the girls didn’t have memories of what they did while being controlled by their Sins. Rin held up her hands in signs that she didn’t want to harm her. “I’m Rin, I’m her to observe you with Eli!” she said, trying to calm the girl. It looked like the girl calmed down a bit.  
“I-I see,” Rin couldn’t believe this was the same girl as yesterday. Her voice was totally different and so was her acting. “Nozomi told me about you.”  
Rin was surprised. “She did?” she asked. The girl nodded. She had gotten closer to her now but looked still not entirely at ease. “This morning she did.” Again, Rin was surprised. “Did you wake up that early?”

The girl scratched the back of her neck. Rin thought she could see a mark for a moment but the blue hair already hid it again. “I wake up very early for my runs and food yes. I’ve actually already completed my run, I was just stretching to cool off.” Rin was excited but startled as well. She always woke up early for her runs, it was almost creepy that some people went out even earlier.

“So, yesterday I met you as Wrath,” the girl cringed at the name. “But I don’t know your name.” The girl swallowed. “I’m Umi.” Rin smiled, showing white teeth. “Nice to meet you Umi!” Umi blushed slightly and shifted on her feet. “ N-nice to meet you as well.” Rin made a mental note later to find in the books if the Sins always chose a host with a familiar character. She was guessing not.

Rin then had an idea. “So, I’m new here, if it’s not too much trouble, could you explain me what route I should take for my run?” Umi’s face light up at the question. “Yes! Of course!” Rin smiled again. “Thanks, I wouldn’t want to accidently get killed on a run.” Umi suddenly looked tense again at the word killed. “R-right,” She just muttered. “Follow me please.”

. . .

 

‘Umi had been tense the entire time. I think the word ‘killed’ made her remember something. I’m guessing the accident that happened with the girl who was here before me and Eli, if I remember correctly her name was Tsubasa. Strange enough I haven’t sensed any sign of her spirit yet, which I should’ve have. I also researched in a book I borrowed from Eli. It turns out the Sins don’t always choose a host with a familiar character. The main source of that could be a curse. I have whatsoever no clue if Umi could be cursed. If she were to be cursed, who brought the curse over her and why? I also learnt that Honoka was very close with Tsubasa. Her Sin was very controlled at that time, sometimes not appearing for weeks. Since Tsubasa is gone, Nozomi says that Honoka has started to act strange. Nozomi also states Sloth is appearing a lot lately. I still have to meet with Pride, Envy and Gluttony. Nozomi said before that Pride should be out this morning so I’ll just go back to the castle now.’

Rin closed her notebook with a frown. She had just gotten here and everything was already so confusing. What is corrupting the Sins and other Spirits? Was it Tsubasa’s spirit? It couldn’t be. Rin was sure that this wasn’t the case. She would’ve sensed her. It crawled with spirits here. And then Rin had an idea. She opened an old book again and started flipping to the pages.

There it was, almost every girl was a host her entire life. Only extreme exorcism could give a change of the Sin leaving the body. The girl would die because of it most of the times. So a ton of girls had died in Seven-Mountain castle through the years, right? Rin just needed to search their spirits. Even if they went to the afterlife, part of their aura should still wander through the castle.

Rin had gotten up and sprinted out of the library when she bumped into a girl. She didn’t recognize her. The girl glared at her with blood-red eyes. No pupil. Hell yeah, meeting another girl while they are possessed. Could she just meet one girl when she wasn’t possessed? “Watch were you’re going, ginger!”  
The girl looked pissed off. “You could’ve hurt the great Pride along the body of my wonderful Host, Nico!” Rin wasn’t sure what she should say. “Oh well, I guess I can forgive a pitiful person like you,” the girl rolled her eyes dramatically. “After all, I’m a nice being.” Rin was starting to understand what Sin she had encountered; Pride.

“You’re to kind.” Rin sarcastically blurted out. Pride narrowed its eyes. “I can smell sarcasm you know.” Rin bit her lip, trying to keep herself from saying stupid things. It didn’t help. “If sarcasm had a smell, I’m sure I’d create perfume with it from your voice and sayings. Pride looked more pissed than ever. “Unactable!” It roared. The pigtails who bounced were hilarious.

Rin knew this was seriously troubling. But she was saved by Nozomi. Nozomi appeared behind Pride with a smirk. Before Rin could say anything, Nozomi’s hands reached out around Pride’s chest and squeezed it. Pride let out a yell. “You insane woman!” it screamed. “Let go of me, you titmonster!” Nozomi looked very amused with her nickname. “You name it Pride.”

Pride fainted. Just flat out slumped down in Nozomi’s arms. Rin watched with dropped jaw. Nozomi smiled at her, still holding the body close to her. “You sure are lucky, getting to meet Pride and still living. Such a kind one.” Nozomi said with a grin. The girl started to move in her arms. “Ah, wakey wakey Nicochi.”  
The girl who apparently was named Nico opened her eyes. They were still red but not blood-red. And her pupils were there as well. The pissed off look hadn’t faded. “Did you have to make them leave like that?” Rin was surprised it was the same voice as before. “You are pretty much the same as Pride. You have slightly more manners.” Nico’s right eye twitched. “Get your boobs out of my face.”  
Nozomi chuckled. “Whatever Nico. Just remember to be nice!” Nico spit on the ground next to Nozomi. “Like hell I’m going to be nice!” Nozomi sighed. “You were really nice to Maki yesterday evening. Nico turned almost as red as her eyes. “Get your boobs out of my private life as well!”

Nico stormed away, leaving a stunned Rin and a grinning Nozomi behind. Nozomi then turned over at Rin when Nico disappeared around a corner. “So how was meeting another Sin?” Rin looked up at her. “I’m starting to discover more and more things about them.” Nozomi chuckled as she sat down on an old looking bench. “Nicochi is just shy.”  
They sat in silence for a moment. Then Rin spoke up. “Nozomi, can I ask you a few questions?” Nozomi had her eyes closed. “Sure.” Rin got her notebook out. “When did you or your parents notice that you were possessed?” Nozomi’s eyes opened. “When I started flirting with my dad around age seven. He’s in jail now.” Rin wrote the age down. She decided to let the jail part go. “When were you brought here?” Nozomi studied a nail. “A month after my father was sent to jail.” Rin squinted her eyes. The sunlight was so bright. “So around seven?” Nozomi nodded again.

Rin wrote it all down. “When did the others arrive?” Nozomi was silent for a moment. “I wasn’t the first one here,” Rin raised her brow but didn’t say anything. “Hanayo showed signs of having a shared body with Gluttony very soon. She was pretty much thrown on here. When I first met her, Gluttony had been in control for almost a year.” Rin’s eyes widened.

“I’m two years older than Hanayo, you see. So she was around four when she was here. She was five when I met her. She almost bit of a finger.” Rin bit her lip. “She had been living alone all that time?” Nozomi nodded. “Yeah, Gluttony knows what to eat and what you can’t eat. So I think Hanayo thought, ‘suck it, let them overtake me, I need to survive.’” Rin could’ve laughed if it wasn’t that serious. “Could she talk?” Nozomi looked sad, just like in the morning. “Barely. I taught her how to speak and when Umi arrived she taught how to read.”

There was an awkward silence. “That’s so sad, did her parents just abandon her?” Rin finally managed to ask. “They abandoned her after she ate almost all the rice in her village,” Nozomi said with a sigh. “Seriously, Gluttony can be such a pain!” Nozomi played with the rand of her skirt. “One time we ran out of food because of them, we still had a day to go!” Rin just smiled. Then she decided she needed to be serious again.

“When did you notice change in Gluttony?” Nozomi’s eyes changed. Both colours became darker and the girl bit her lip. “I think around a year ago actually,” she then started. “We were having a little party because Tsubasa had been a year with us and we were all just talking and eating some cake, y’know, the party stuff. Now, Gluttony used to come out at night. And as soon as the clock hit 12, it appeared." Nozomi stared at the floor in front of her.

“Normally Hanayo’s eyes miss their pupils when she’s possessed but,” there was a slight pause. “This time they changed colour as well. Hanayo’s eyes are lavender like, this time they were almost pink. It startled me. First I thought it was just the dim light in the room but Tsubasa noticed it as well. Normally Gluttony would start eating what they could right away but this time, it just sat there. It stared at us with those hateful pink irises. It was unnerving.”  
Rin bit the back of her pen. Things were seriously messed up here. She got up. “Thanks Nozomi, I’ll stop bothering you now. I need to sort some stuff out.” Rin said, sprinting away from the purple-haired.

. . .

‘There appear to be several strange things around here. My guess is something happened around a year ago. First I need to find out of there was some spiritual accident, that could maybe be an explanation for the changes. I will discuss everything with Eli soon, maybe she has an opinion on it. First I want to meet Envy and Gluttony of course, I need to gather all the information I can. Perhaps Eli already met Envy, they come out in the middays after all. Eli told me she would be around where Envy’s host is so that she could perhaps meet up with them. I’m curious about Envy’s host, Envy is in symbol of jealousy after all. I haven’t spoken to Honoka while awake. I also hope to meet her soon. Nozomi is a strange case. I’m not sure when Lust comes out. I also haven’t figured out her eyes. I have the slight idea that Nozomi shares her consciousness at all time with Lust but that is just a guess for now. Maybe Eli can figure something out. I also want to know more about this castle and its past, I still didn’t find Tsubasa’s spirit, let alone the spirits of the former hosts. Rin out.’

Rin closed her notebook. Things were getting very interesting now. Two days in and already everything she expected turned out to be entirely different. She was intrigued by Tsubasa’s story and hoped that a conversation with Honoka could clear some things up. She just hoped the girl wanted to talk to her about it. Nozomi said they were pretty close after all. How close can you possibly be that it has so much impact on you, your Sin takes you over almost every hour of the day?


	3. Old things tell stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin discovers another Sin and more information about the castle and Sins are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions are answered with questions. Also, death and spirits are such a fascinating subject, don't you think?  
> Envy is my favourite Sin, relate to it a lot :'v

. . .

 

‘I yet have to meet Envy and Gluttony. I had a talk with Umi, she’s a close friend to Envy’s host. Also with Sloth’s host, Honoka. I decided it was better for now not to talk too much about Honoka, Umi seems nervous enough about the entire corruption subject. Umi told me Envy’s host, Kotori enjoys being alone sometimes, especially when Envy takes over. Umi says that Kotori is ashamed of sharing a body with Envy, after that she ran away. Umi is certainly not like her Sin. I’m still curious if it has to do with a curse. Certainly, there should be a reason behind everyone getting possessed. I’m going to discuss my idea’s with Eli after this, if I can get her away from Nozomi that is. For now I’m going out, trying to find some spirits I can talk to.’

Rin wandered through the big hallways of the castle. She found some spirits but most of them were those of animal’s. She still didn’t understand how she couldn’t find any human-like spirits. If the castle had existed for that long, then it should be impossible to not find any spirits. Every room and door looked the same in this castle. 

The past three days Rin had gotten used to getting lost. Most of the times she could eventually find her way back. Nozomi taught her a trick, she just needed to follow the old scratch marks on the right walls, that way she would always end up at the kitchen. Rin thought the scratching was odd but hey, it worked. The appearance of a different door startled her. She was pretty sure she had been in this hallway before but there was no way to know it. Rin made a mental note to mark places where she had been with something.

As soon as she thought about it an idea popped up. Stupid her, how could she forget about her aura? With care she reached out her right hand to the place next to the door. The wall hissed when her fingers touched it. The slight pain surprised Rin. She pulled her fingers back and examined the light burns. She just shrugged it off and made a ‘R’ mark. Satisfied with her genius idea Rin stepped back. She then looked back at the door again. Why shouldn’t she have a look inside? She pulled against the door. A lot of doors were very heavy and hard to push but this one slid open with ease. Inside was a surprise.

The first thing Rin laid her eyes on were the pictures. She hadn’t seen a lot of actual pictures in her life, in her village there was only one camera and it had broken years ago. But here, tons of pictures. And Rin recognized the girl in the pictures and—

“What are you doing in my room?” The voice made Rin jump up and she spun around to search for the source of the voice. She found her source sitting at a bed in a corner. A girl with grey hair glared at her. Rin wasn’t sure who she was or what Sin lived inside of her. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Rin apologized. “I didn’t recognize this door and decided to take a look inside. I didn’t know this was your room.” Rin felt the girl study her from her spot. “Did Umi sent you here?” Before Rin could reply the girl shook her head. “No, of course not. Then you would’ve known there was a room here,” the girl muttered to herself. “Umi, I miss you,” Rin felt like she really was intruding a private space. “I really want you here.”

Then, the girl remembered Rin was still standing there. “Get out of here, unless your hiding something for me, Umi would be nice-“ The girl covered her mouth with her hands. Rin could see from her spot that the girl was trying to say something else while blinking rapidly. Rin swallowed loudly and started to make her way back to the door entrance. 

“Hey, wait!” The girl’s voice had changed. Rin also had remembered something. If this was Envy’s host, Kotori, then Envy could appear any moment, since it was midday. And boy was Rin right. The girl had gotten of the bed, pupils had disappeared. “Why don’t you hand me that necklace?” Rin’s hand went to the necklace she had hidden beneath her shirt. “It’s really pretty, think of it as an apology for entering my room without permission.” Envy’s voice was smooth.

For a moment Rin thought about handing the necklace over to her. Her hands were already fumbling with the lock when she bit on her tongue. She snapped out of her trance immediately. She did another step back. “It, It was nice meeting you but I really should go now.” Rin stuttered. Envy squinted their eyes. “Whatever, it’s not like I wanted it that bad anyway.” Rin couldn’t close the door behind herself soon enough. She quickly ran away from the door and tried to control her breathing.

Of course Rin bumped into Umi. Well, she liked bumping into Umi more than into Pride. She hadn’t met that Sin since then, thank the spirits. “Ah, sorry!” Rin said as she helped Umi with getting up. The blue-haired looked nervous like always. Rin preferred a nervous Umi over Wrath. “N-no, it was my mistake, I wasn’t looking where I-I was going.” Umi muttered, looking at the ground. Rin smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it,” Rin remembered her plans for talking to Eli. “Do you maybe know where Eli is? I need to talk to her.” Umi thought about it for a moment. 

“I saw Nozomi in the garden with Nico, so my guess is that Eli is close to them.” she then replied. Rin sighed. “Of course she’s close to Nozomi,” she muttered while rolling her eyes. “Umi, can I ask you something about Wrath?” Umi looked extremely nervous again and played with a strand of her long her. “W-what do you want to ask?” Rin smiled, trying to get the girl to calm down. “Just things that could help with my observation.” Umi bit her lip. “Okay, go ahead.”

Rin nodded thankfully and pulled out her notebook. “If you don’t feel okay with answering a question, please tell me.” Umi nodded, her hands now playing with her sleeve. Rin had noticed that the girl was wearing a typical outfit from this country. “So, when did you or your parents found out Wrath was using you as a host?” Umi’s face turned pale. “I, I don’t remember. Next question please.” 

Rin frowned but decided to respect the girl’s will. “What age were you when you arrived at Seven-Mountain Castle?” Umi looked away from Rin for a moment, probably a sign of her thinking. “I think I was eight.” Rin just nodded. “Random question, did you know any of the girls who you live with before you got here?” “I-I knew Honoka and Kotori.” Umi stammered. Rin rose a brow. “So childhood friends? Nice!” The girl looked like she was getting more and more nervous with the minute. “I guess y-you could say it’s nice.” That answer made Rin frown again. “Don’t you think it’s nice then?”

Umi turned red and looked up, shaking her head. “N-no, it’s just that,” Umi paused for a moment. “It’s just that some things happened.” Then, Umi ran away. “T-that’s all I’m going to say!” Now Rin was left with more questions than answers

. . . .

‘So I still haven’t talked to Eli but I’m going over to the garden soon. More important, I met Envy. And Kotori. The amount of pictures of Umi in that room were creepy. Maybe Envy really likes Umi and wants her? But then again, Kotori also rambled about her. I should ask Nozomi about that. If I only could talk to Honoka, maybe she could explain some things. Umi said they were childhood friends after all. And then there is Gluttony left, I have no idea where she could be. Or he, or they. The whole gender thing is confusing me. There is also the spirits-are-nowhere-only-animals-problem. Eli mentioned that there was a library somewhere in the castle, maybe I can find some information in there. I’m going over to the garden now.’

The garden was really nice. A lot of flowers decorated the ground and a huge tree was in the middle of it. Nozomi was sitting in the shade of the tree, talking to Nico and of course, Eli. But this time it looked like Eli was taking notes. Sometimes Nico looked like she was getting angry after Nozomi said something with a smirk. Eyes were still the same story. Rin jogged over to the tree and waved sheepishly. “Hey guys!” Nico was the first one to look up. She rolled her red eyes dramatically like she had done earlier. “So it’s the ginger again? Lame.” Rin frowned. Nozomi smiled. “Don’t worry about it Rin, Nicochi just feels butt hurt because you have more than her.”

Rin frowned again. “I have more of what?” Nico’s eye twitched. “Don’t do it Nozomi,” Nozomi got up. “I said, don’t do it Nozomi,” Nozomi stood behind Rin. Rin started to get an idea of the situation. “Goddamn it Nozomi,” Nozomi squeezed Rin’s chest, causing the girl to scream. “She was so innocent Nozomi.” Nico said with a sigh. Rin glared at Nozomi who shrugged. “I was right though, wasn’t I Nicochi?” Nozomi was greeted with a certain finger by Nico. “I at least wear normal clothes.” Nozomi smirked and winked. “Touché.” Nozomi was indeed in a short skirt with another apron again. This time no awful message, thankfully.

Eli had watched the situation with a smile but now spoke up, “So what were you up to, Rin?” The orange-haired sat down next to Eli. “I met Kotori and Envy.” Nozomi showed an amused expression. “No. Way. Did you enter her secret room?” Rin looked confused. “How did you know that?” Nozomi shrugged. “The only place you can get burns like that,” Nozomi pointed at Rin’s burned fingers. “Is at the wall that has the door in it.” Eli looked confused. “What secret room?” Nico held her hand up. “Let’s skip that question, it’s just creepy.” Nozomi pouted. “No fun Nicochi,” she turned to Eli. “Kotori and Envy both have an,” Nozomi paused. “An obsession with Umi. A healthy one, trust me!” Nozomi continued. Rin snickered. “I figured the obsession part kind of out yes.”

Ice-blue eyes went back and forth between Rin and Nozomi. “Okay..,” Eli then muttered. “So just one Sin left to discover I guess?” Rin nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.” Nozomi looked up. “Did you speak to Honoka yet?” Rin and Eli shook their heads in unison. “I think you could meet her if you go to the waterfalls now.” Eli closed her notebook. “You heard her Rin, let’s go!” Rin got up slowly. “Since when do you like leaving Nozomi alone?” The question had escaped Rin’s mouth before she could do anything. Nico smirked but kept quiet. Eli looked like a fish, laying on the sand, gasping for air for a moment before closing her mouth. “I don’t hang around Nozomi that often,” the sputtered out. “Let’s go Rin.”

. . .

It turned out Eli and Rin didn’t hear Nozomi saying, “waterfalls.” Or more easy explained, there were nine waterfalls, all having different paths leading to them. Eli groaned. She looked sweaty, wearing a black trench coat. Rin was confused about that part, who would wear a black, hot coat to a sunny place like this? Rin was just wearing some shorts with a shirt. “Aren’t you feeling extremely hot with that coat on?” Rin asked. Eli looked over at her. “Nozomi said it looked good on me.” She whined. Rin tried not to laugh. “Interesting reason.”

They both went silent for a moment. Rin felt something tug at her pants. She looked down to see a small girl looking up at her. Eli didn’t seem to notice her. Rin crouched down and smiled at her. The girl smiled back. Hollow blue eyes greeted Rin’s eyes. “Hello there,” Rin greeted. Eli turned around with a frown. She figured Rin found a spirit. “How are you?” 

The spirit was silent for a moment before she started to speak inside Rin’s head. “I’m as fine as I can be.” Rin chuckled. “That’s good to hear,” she answered. “Can I ask your name?” Rin then asked. The girl answered, “Iruki.” Rin smiled again. “That’s a really pretty name!” The girl blushed slightly. “What is your name?”

Rin had sat down now. “I’m Rin,” she said. “That girl over there is Eli,” she then said while pointing at Eli who waved awkwardly. Iruki nodded thoughtfully. “You also have nice names,” Iruki then complimented. Rin grinned. “Thanks Iruki!” Iruki sat down next to Rin. “Iruki, can I ask you something?” Iruki nodded. “How did you get here and how did you well,” Rin paused. “Die?”

The blue eyes turned sad now. “I got sent here because of my Sin,” she whispered. Rin didn’t say anything. "It turned out I was a host to Greed. I was all alone when I got here. I wandered through the forest and got here. I wanted to touch the water and,” Iruki cringed. “I fell down and hit my head on the rocks. The water may look like it’s deep but it isn’t.” 

Rin felt sad for the girl. “That must’ve been awful.” Iruki chuckled. “The hitting of my head only knocked me out, I drowned,” Now Rin felt even more for the girl. “It doesn’t matter now!” Iruki then said cheerfully. “You’re the first one who can see me,” Iruki explained. “A few girls knew I was here but couldn’t see me. I talked with one through writing things in the sand.”

The sounds of animal life around them had quieted down. Eli had decided to study the closer waterfall. Honoka was still nowhere to be seen. She turned around to look at Rin, who looked caught up in her conversation with the spirit Eli couldn’t see. When Eli looked back at the waterfall she noticed something that sparked her interests. A hidden passage way, how convenient! Eli decided Rin should be fine on her own and walked over to the entrance.

Cold air greeted her face. After the cold air a breeze brought an unholy scent with it. Eli tried not to throw up. Eli noticed how dark it was inside. She gulped but then pulled of her black glove. The tattoo on the inside of her hand palm hadn’t changed. She remembered how much it had hurt when the hot metal was pressed into her hand. She bit her lip at remembering it. She then snapped her fingers and blue fire started to glow up. She hadn’t done this in a long time. It didn’t feel hot at all. The warmth was comfortable. Eli sighed. “Well, there goes nothing,” she said before whispering, “More reasons to hate the dark.”

. . .

Iruki explained a lot about the castle. She had been a spirit for a very long time now. Somehow the afterlife hadn’t sent someone to yield her soul and bring her back with them. So now Iruki was stuck to the place she had died. Iruki had arrived her around two centuries ago. Rin was fascinated by how developed this country already was then. The part where Iruki told her she was also brought by a ship surprised Rin the most. She thought ships were only about fifty years old now. Turned out not. When Rin looked up she didn’t see Eli standing anywhere. Maybe the girl had walked up to investigate somewhere else. Rin shrugged it off and continued her conversation with Iruki. Rin took some notes as she listened.

‘Iruki is a very friendly spirit I met. She explained me how the castle was already there when she arrived. “It looked old and there was a lot of dust.” A saying by Iruki. She explained the waterfalls represented the nine girls who had originally lived her first, being hosts to the Sins. The legend is that the Sins wielded enough power to create waterfalls back then. The other two waterfalls were presents for the two observers at that time. Iruki said before she died, she swore something was looking at her from behind a waterfall. Iruki said she hadn’t met any of the other girls when she died. That was the time a generation said they missed a Greed. For now that’s all, I’m going to search for Eli if she isn’t back in half an hour.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kayo-chin will appear soon ayy. Chapter title inspired by my grandma. I love u granny.  
> And another thing, commissions can be sent at Tumblr, my URL is ruelf! I only write f/f though. Also, I've been working on various things for the LL tag, I'm afraid this work will get an update every once in a while. I try to keep my work going ay~


	4. The luck of Eli Ayase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli stumbles upon some older secrets and Rin meets Gluttony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the lack of updates. I have been very busy with school and other, problems, I guess I could call them that. Also had a small writers block but I'm back! Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter. Maybe my writing changed a little since the last update, please ignore that.  
> Also sorry that this is such a short chapter.

. . .

Eli wouldn’t have minded it if she had died right there and then.

The first thing was the awful smell and the dark. Eli hated the dark. So, she was really, really glad that years ago she had embraced the pain that had come with the tattoo and now gave her light. The blue flames also gave her some warmth as she walked through the cold maze that was made of rocks.

“Why did I agree to do this job again?” Eli muttered to herself. “Right, because I needed to protect my title.” She sighed, this wasn’t fun at all. If only she could’ve seen the girl and talked to her, she would’ve pushed Rin into this cave and talked to some dead girl.

But no, she was here.

Maybe this was something good for her, so she could get used to dark places. And even if she was used to dark places, that didn’t mean she had to abandon the little light she always had at her bedside when she slept.

Eli almost let out a yelp when she stepped onto something. Slowly, she looked down. There, split into pieces beneath her heavy shoe, laid a bone. Eli was no expert on the human skeleton or bones but that bone was very, very old.

“Well isn’t this my lucky day?” Eli said with a shaking voice to herself. But, she crouched down and inspected the bone. There was no muscle or anything attached to it. It felt almost smooth to the touch, no greasy feeling. “Seems like it’s old,” Eli brought the bone closer to her face as she squinted her eyes. “but why am I not sensing some spiritual attachment?”

It was at that moment, somewhere behind her, a loud bang echoed. Eli dropped the piece of bone she had been holding and turned around, hand held out in front of her, trying to light up whatever had been causing that noise. There was nothing. Only darkness where the entrance to the cave had been. “Oh come on, give me a break!”

. . .

It had been a while since Eli disappeared and Rin started to worry. Just a few more minutes and she’d start searching for the girl.

Rin pursed her lips as she scanned the area she had last seen Eli. Where could she be anyway? But then again, this place was huge.

She had no idea how big the castle itself was, let alone the woods surrounding it. She hadn’t visited the seven mountains around the castle either. That was something Rin wanted to do quickly. Rin wasn’t sure why but the idea of visiting the mountain where the sins were born, or so the legends said, was simply intriguing.

The orange-haired almost jumped off the ground when somewhere a loud bang could be heard. She spun around and tried to find what had caused the sound. Iruki had wandered off to somewhere and Rin wasn’t sure if she could find the girl again.

For a moment Rin thought she saw something behind one of the waterfalls. She started to walk closer to the place she thought she’d seen something and sure enough, a rock almost tinted silver blocked off an entrance.

Rin cocked her head back. There were letters above the entrance she didn’t understand. Was it in the native language of this country or area? No. It seemed much older. Plus, Rin sensed some old magic coming off it. Slowly, Rin pulled out her notebook and startled to scribble down the inscriptions. Maybe one of the girls who were possessed by a Sin could understand it.

Then, Rin thought she heard Eli’s voice. She frowned. Rin pressed her ear against the rock. There it was, the faint sound of Eli’s voice.

“Rin!”

She was sure of it, Eli was in there. “Eli, can you hear me?” she yelled back. There was a knock against the rock. “Yeah, I’m in here. Something must’ve triggered the rock to fall or something. I was investigating some inside space filled with skeletons when it fell.”

Rin bit her lip as she studied the rock. It was huge. And probably heavy too. Too heavy for her and Eli to push away. “Eli?” Eli hummed on the other side of the rock. “I don’t think I can push this away myself.”

In the dark space Eli groaned. Of course this was happening to her. “Then go search some spirits or some of the girls, maybe they can help!” Eli then yelled. The flame flickered for a second. Then, it died away. “And please, search for help quickly!”

As Eli heard Rin run off she sat down. She was sure she had sat onto another bone or something else, something poked into her butt. “This is just perfect.”

. . .

Rin entered the spacious kitchen. She had expected to see Nozomi but instead, she was facing the back of a girl. She was sure she hadn’t seen her before. “Uhm, hello?” Rin called out to the girl. The girl looked startled, she jumped up a little. Then, she turned around. Immediately Rin noticed something wasn’t entirely right with the girl.

Her eyes were the colour of gold but, every time she blinked – what the girl did almost every second- they would turn to black.

“H-hello.”

The voice startled Rin. She first wasn’t too sure if the girl even said anything but, “W-who are you?” confirmed that the girl had spoken.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m Rin, I am here to observe some girls, I guess you too.” Rin quickly explained as she did a step closer. The girl did a step back. Rin didn’t even know if this was the girl or the Sin. She seemed to be shy either way. “Oh. I see.” The girl simply said. Then, “Is there something you need? You seem to be in a hurry.”

Rin remembered the poor Eli, who was still trapped inside the cave. “You’re right! I was looking for someone who could help me with pushing away a rock that is keeping the other observer, Eli, inside a cave!”

Black, gold, black, gold. “I can help you.” The girl then said as she started to walk. “Just bring me to where the girl is.” Rin blinked a few times. The girl looked so petite, could she even do a thing? But then again, this probably was Gluttony.

Wait, Gluttony. The Gluttony who ate the other observer? Rin swallowed as she started to follow the girl. She just hoped she could get Eli out of the cave before she was eaten.


	5. Rock candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Eli is freed from the cave through an interesting way, Rin visits Greed island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter yet again.   
> Since I can't speak Russian, I've thrown something of my own language in for the song Eli sings. I used to sing it before I went to sleep, oh the memories. See the notes at the end of the chapter for a translation, doesn't sound as poetic as in Dutch but oh well.   
> Also yes, I updated very fast wow. To make up for the sudden hiatus and as thanks for the kind messages you all left :)   
> Quick note about Hanayo, I wrote before that her pupils disappear when possessed and stuff but I kinda forgot. Anyway yeah. Just ignore that, for now. Lol.

. . .

Eli’s grip tightened around the cross that was attached to a necklace.

How long had it been since Rin ran away from the cave entrance? A minute? No, longer than that. A hour? Maybe. The waterfalls were pretty far away from the castle after all.

Why was she afraid of the dark again? She wasn’t sure what had made her so afraid of being in the dark. Maybe it was that time her father forced her to be alone in a dark room for almost a day. Or perhaps when her mother punished her for taking a piece of cake without asking. The punishment was making her go out to the woods at night. Ever since then Eli hated the dark.

It wasn’t like she would go mad when she was in a dark space, she just didn’t like it one bit.  
Eli clenched her eyes tight shut when somewhere deep within the cave something.. just groaned.

Eli didn’t want to know what it was. With a shaking voice, she began to sing a song from her childhood that was taught her in church.

“ _Je hoeft niet bang te zijn, al gaan de lichten uit. God is er en hij blijft, als jij je ogen sluit._ ”

. . .

“What waterfall is she at?”

Rin looked up when she saw the girl had stopped walking. “Uhm, that one.” She said as she pointed at the waterfall the cave was. The girl simply nodded and continued to walk. “Your name is Hanayo, right?” Rin then asked.

The girl stopped walking and frowned, eye colours still changing. “Is it?” Rin felt awkward suddenly. “Uh, yeah. Nozomi told me.” Hanayo scratched the back of her head. “Weird, I didn’t remember it,” she muttered. “Anyway, let’s get your friend out of the cave, shall we?”

Quickly Rin continued to follow Hanayo, who was now walking towards the cave with a determined expression. But then, Hanayo stopped walking yet again. “How did that rock get there?” Rin shrugged. “No idea, something must’ve triggered it to fall down.”

Hanayo shook her head violently. “Not possible, those rocks are a special type of rock. Only spiritual beings can move them,” Hanayo explained. “It would have been impossible for you to move it, even though your spiritual sense is high.” A shiver ran down Rin’s spine as she remembered Iruki. “Can the ghost of a person move it?” Hanayo nodded.

“Yeah, although there aren’t that many spirits here. Or so I thought.”

“Rin, are you there?”

The orange-haired almost let out a yelp when she heard Eli’s voice.

“Y-yeah, I’m here, with help, we’ll get you out!” Rin yelled back. She felt Hanayo staring at her, the hair at the back of her neck stood up. “S-so, what do you need to do, Hanayo?”

Hanayo rolled her shoulders lose and cracked her fingers. “Just get back, as well as the girl inside.”

Rin didn’t expect Hanayo to unbuckle her jaw and jam her fingers into the rock after that sentence but Hanayo did.

Within no time, the rock was almost gone. A few bites later, Eli stared at Hanayo with wide eyes. Rin didn’t think it was strange for Eli to stare but then she noticed the pink eyes.

So it had been Hanayo after all. But why the colour changing?

“So you are the seventh Sin?” Eli’s voice interrupted Rin’s thinking. Hanayo didn’t say anything, just slowly nodded as she brought her jaw back in place. It was an eerie thing to see, honestly. Hanayo stepped back, eyes turning back to the usual flashing. “I’m just going to,” she paused, looked as if thinking gave her too much of a headache, “take a nap, didn’t have that much food for a while now.”

There were no complains coming from Eli and Rin as Hanayo walked away

. . . .

‘So I finally met all the Sins, every meeting was wild if I say so myself. I’m very worried about Hanayo, to say that first. Both the host and the Sin seem unstable but I can’t figure out why. At least not yet. I want to talk to Honoka soon, hopefully she will be awake or not Sloth. I want to ask her about the other observer, Tsubasa. For now this will be my notes.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You don't have to be afraid  
> even if the lights turn off.  
> God will be there and he'll stay  
> when you close your eyes."


	6. Tears and Tea parties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin manages to have a short conversation and Eli's past haunts her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget this I swear. At least I forgot it for two weeks and not a month. Ha.

. . .

Finding Honoka was easy, talking to Honoka wasn’t .

For the past ten minutes Rin had been watching how Honoka stared at the ground in front of her. The girl was still in her pyjamas and looked like she was ready to back to sleep at any moment.

“So, Honoka,” Rin slowly started, “can I ask you a few things?” Honoka now looked up at her. The thing that made Rin feel uneasy was the lack of expression. “I guess.” The girl replied after a few seconds.

Rin licked her lips, she was feeling nervous. She shouldn’t be. “What can you tell me about Tsubasa Kira?”

That was obviously a stupid thing to ask but, Rin didn’t realize it until Honoka’s first lifeless expression changed to a mix between anger and sadness. “Why do you want to know about her?”

Raising her hands in sign of innocence, Rin quickly said “I’m just trying to observe every Sin and it’s host and I’m trying to understand them.”

It looked like that satisfied Honoka enough for her to continue. “Okay, seems legit I suppose,” the blue-eyed muttered. “I guess I could call Tsubasa my best friend and something more, I don’t know how I could name it. But she was very special to me, that’s a sure thing.”

Rin nodded as she wrote down the basics of what Honoka said. “Do you miss her?” she then asked with a soft and quiet voice.

The answer to that was obvious and Rin watched the older girl as she teared up. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t a good question.” Rin mumbled but, Honoka shook her head. “It’s alright.” Honoka took a deep but shaky breath. “I miss her a lot,” she then said, looking Rin in the eyes. “we shared a room, you see. I sometimes wake up as myself in the nights and look over to her bed but, she isn’t in there. It sucks.” 

A tear ran down Honoka’s face. Rin bit her lip. She didn’t want Honoka to feel sad. An idea sparked in her mind. Maybe because she wasn’t familiar with Tsubasa’s soul, she couldn’t find the girl’s presence. Maybe Honoka could explain Tsubasa's soul- No. It was a foolish idea.

. . . 

“Are you alright, Elicchi?”

Eli looked up from her tea when Nozomi’s voice came from in front of her. She smiled and put her tea down on the table next to her. “Yes, I’m feeling way better now Nozomi.”

The two older girls were seated in the living room. Although the kitchen was a more often used space, the living room had a very nice arrangement. The chair Eli was sitting in felt very comfortable, like the cushion was a soft liquid you slowly sunk in.

“I’m glad to hear that, Elicchi.” Nozomi said with a toothy grin. Nozomi had started calling her ‘Elicchi’ what wasn’t all bad. Her eyes were still different. Eli felt like she wasn’t that hypnotized by the girl anymore. Or the Sin. Eli was convinced both the host and Sin were very charming. Which was also dangerous.

Eli shook her head and closed her eyes as she took another sip from her tea. “This tea’s flavour is so nice, is it from a local or something?” she asked in a try to distract her mind.

Nozomi’s eyes light up. “It’s very local! Umi herself grew the plants.” Eli had spoken a few times to Umi and was surprised at that answer. She didn’t expect Umi to do something like that.

“Is that so? I’m surprised.” Eli answered with an amused tone. Nozomi chuckled. “Umi does a lot more than freaking out over little things and running around than you’d think.”

They both enjoyed the home-made tea in silence, when Maki burst into the living room.

Maki and Greed were the same in some ways. Both Greed and Maki could never get enough of things like attention –Maki didn’t say she wanted attention though- but Maki didn’t really care about having objects or money, her parents were rich enough.

Every month Maki’s parents would send a ship over stuffed with useless things. Not everything was useless, the blankets last winter had been very nice.

“Ah, Makicchi, hello.” Nozomi greeted as she got up. “Do you want some tea?”

The red-head stared Nozomi for a bit before answering. “Sure,” to be continued with, “I said ‘don’t call me Makicchi’!”.

The older girl just sighed and shrugged as she pour the younger girl her tea. “Ah, I just remembered that Nicocchi was searching for you.” Nozomi then said.

Maki didn’t seem surprised. “Of course she was.” Eli listened to the conversation in silence. Although she was confused, she didn’t want to interrupt Maki’s speaking. Somehow she was intimidated by the girl. It frustrated Eli honestly, but she couldn’t help it.

“What are you staring at?” Maki suddenly snapped at Eli. Eli hadn’t noticed she had been staring at Maki. “I-I don’t know, I’m sorry ma’am.” Eli managed to squeeze out of her throat as she jumped up into salute position. The years of being drilled in the army fired her into an embarrassing position.

Nozomi and Maki looked at each other a second before smirking. Eli’s cheeks became redder with the moment.

It seemed like things were going fine here at Seven Mountain’s castle.


End file.
